Information that is needed by a company or another organization for performing the tasks provided in the company or the organization is usually stored in database systems. Thus, companies usually operate database systems that store, by way of example, person-related information from customers of the company, on the basis of which the company performs services for its customers, for example. In this case, the stored information frequently also comprises sensitive data, in particular sensitive personal data such as names, bank details or the like, which need to be protected against unauthorized access.
For many tasks that are performed on the basis of the stored information, access to the precise content of the information stored in the database system, including the sensitive data, is required. In the same way, however, provision may be made, by way of example, for the information stored in the database to be taken as a basis for making statistical evaluations that are reliant only on a portion of the data stored in the database system, while a large amount of further stored information is not relevant to the evaluations. In addition, provision may be made for the information stored in the database to be taken as a basis for producing test data that are used to test new data processing processes, for example, before they are implemented in the database system for execution in normal operation. In this case, the test data should have the greatest possible matches with the real data, but it is not usually necessary for the real data to be processed in test runs.
In order to protect the sensitive data stored in the database system during access for purposes of the aforementioned type in which the data content is not or only partially relevant, it is possible to use anonymized values instead of the real original values of the data elements. On the basis of such anonymized values, it is then possible to make statistical evaluations or test runs, for example, without having to reveal the real original values of sensitive data elements.